Operation: Midnight Guardian by Linda Castillo Page B

fallen silent. Cutter figured that was just as well. He didn’t want to talk to her. He didn’t have the answers she wanted to hear. Finding a cabin in these conditions was going to take nothing short of a miracle. He figured they had a couple of hours before serious hypothermia set in and their bodies began shutting down.
    Once that happened, their fate would be sealed.
     
     

 
    Chapter Six
     
    Mattie didn’t know how she kept going. The cold was zapping not only her physical strength but her will to continue. It took every bit of her concentration just to put one foot in front of the other. She was beyond cold. Beyond exhaustion. Her hands were numb. Her feet felt like solid ice and ached every time they touched the ground. The urge to collapse and simply give up was strong. But Mattie had never been a quitter.
    Ahead Cutter trudged through deep snow. He was like a machine set on autopilot, moving forward at a steady rate. She didn’t know how he did it. She was growing more exhausted with each step. Her arms were sluggish. Her legs felt weighted down. Even though she was moving, sleepiness tugged at her. In her peripheral vision the trees and snow blurred into a solid gray mass.
    They’d just reached the valley floor when shefell. One moment she was slogging along, thinking about a hot shower and a warm bed, the next she was lying facedown on the ground. The snow was cold against her face but at least she could rest now. She curled more deeply into the snow and closed her eyes….
    “Mattie, come on. Get up.”
    The voice came to her as if from a great distance. She knew it was Cutter. She knew he wanted her to get up. Didn’t he understand that she needed to rest? She hadn’t the strength to argue with him. She just wanted him to leave her alone.
    The next thing she knew he’d hauled her to her feet. “Get up,” he growled. “I’m not going to let you do this.”
    “Tired,” she muttered, surprised when she slurred the word.
    “I know you’re tired. So am I. But we can’t stop now.”
    “Gotta rest,” she murmured. “Just…a little while.”
    The gentle slap of his palm against her cheek roused her. Mattie glared at him, a sharp retort on her tongue. But for the life of her she couldn’t manage the words. All she wanted to do was sleep….
    “You’re going into hypothermia,” he said. “Damn it, you’ve got to keep moving.”
    Mattie tried to take a step forward, just to appease him, but one knee buckled and she went down. Her hands were covered in snow. Oddly, they were no longer cold. The knees of her slacks were wet against her skin. But the snow looked so inviting. “Leave me ’lone.”
    “Not a chance.”
    The next thing she knew she was being dragged up and into his arms. She wasn’t so far gone that it didn’t register in her mind that she was too heavy for him to carry in his deteriorated condition. But she was too weak to argue.
    Warmth emanated from his body into hers. Mattie relaxed against him. She felt her head loll back. She looked up at the swirling gray sky, caught a glimpse of Cutter’s face. His lips had a blue tinge, but his jaw was set, his expression was determined.
    He’s saving my life, she thought dazedly.
    Then darkness descended in a cold black rush, and she didn’t think of anything at all.
     
    FAILURE WAS THE ONE THING The Jaguar could not tolerate. Not in himself. Certainly not when it came to others. But that was exactly what hadhappened. His team had failed him. Which meant he had failed.
    Holed up in a tourist hotel twenty miles from the Canadian border and waiting out the storm, he was not in a good mood. He’d never been good at waiting. He’d never been a good sport when it came to losing. Or when it came to failing. He would not let the American scientist slip from his grasp.
    “How did this happen?” he asked, his voice not betraying the fury building inside him.
    “We followed them into the cave. We were minutes away from apprehending